Got a Few Responses
My post, "Cutting to the Chase," elicited a few responses, 62 so far. This is a good thing. This community is intended to stir up discussion among its members. We are engaging in what Paul spoke of when he urged his readers to quit repeatedly going over elementary matters and to get to the real "meat" of the Christian message. (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)
A few attempts to answer some of the questions asked in the responses.
1. The "indwelling of the Holy Spirit" is available only to God's saints (those separated for God, that's what "saint" means) but God may use whomever He pleases to advance His ends. In Jeremiah 25:8-12, God calls Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, "my servant." (Read also Romans 9:17, 21)
An excellent discussion of this is at "How God Uses Bad People to Do His Will: Another Look at God's Providence," by Pastor Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries. http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/1998-05-03-How-God-Uses-Bad-People-to-Do-His-Will-Another-Look-at-Gods-Providence/
This may sound "spooky" to you, the idea that God can speak specific messages to others through us (Christians), and even through non-believers, but, of course He can, and often, we won't even know it has happened; the other person will know (unless, of course, they are spiritually asleep). What Christians need to do is to be open to the leading of the Spirit and to not ignore Him when he prods us to take some action or to say something. We don't personally have to be aware of what we have done, God can still use it.
2. Jesus is the final and full revelation of God to man, but we still don't know all that can be understood about Him. At first, His followers, including his disciples, thought He was the promised Messiah but they didn't realize that He was God. The Church (the body of Christ's saints, not synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church, took centuries before the full doctrine of the Trinity, an inferred doctrine, was understood. Inferred doctrines have always been there, in plain sight, and once understood, they are ... "why, of course, that's what it means!" Someone asked if those before 325 were saved because they didn't have the doctrine of the Trinity. * Salvation is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ, not on understanding everything. We are saved by faith, not by works or knowledge (Ephesians 2:8-9)
There are two types of Christian doctrine; revealed (explicity stated in Scripture) and inferred (deduced by the Church as led by the Holy Spirit). This is similar to the Muslim doctrine of "consensus."The test of inferred doctrine must be that it explains but never contradicts revealed doctrine.
This is not the same as the doctrine of "ongoing revelation" as practiced in the Mormon religion and in some Pentecostal groups. The revelation presented in Christ can never be added to or changed. (Galatians 1: 6-9)
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* On the doctrine of the Trinity, my next post will be about the First Three Words of the Bible. The doctrine of the Trinity has always been there, from the Beginning.
A few attempts to answer some of the questions asked in the responses.
1. The "indwelling of the Holy Spirit" is available only to God's saints (those separated for God, that's what "saint" means) but God may use whomever He pleases to advance His ends. In Jeremiah 25:8-12, God calls Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, "my servant." (Read also Romans 9:17, 21)
An excellent discussion of this is at "How God Uses Bad People to Do His Will: Another Look at God's Providence," by Pastor Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries. http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/1998-05-03-How-God-Uses-Bad-People-to-Do-His-Will-Another-Look-at-Gods-Providence/
This may sound "spooky" to you, the idea that God can speak specific messages to others through us (Christians), and even through non-believers, but, of course He can, and often, we won't even know it has happened; the other person will know (unless, of course, they are spiritually asleep). What Christians need to do is to be open to the leading of the Spirit and to not ignore Him when he prods us to take some action or to say something. We don't personally have to be aware of what we have done, God can still use it.
2. Jesus is the final and full revelation of God to man, but we still don't know all that can be understood about Him. At first, His followers, including his disciples, thought He was the promised Messiah but they didn't realize that He was God. The Church (the body of Christ's saints, not synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church, took centuries before the full doctrine of the Trinity, an inferred doctrine, was understood. Inferred doctrines have always been there, in plain sight, and once understood, they are ... "why, of course, that's what it means!" Someone asked if those before 325 were saved because they didn't have the doctrine of the Trinity. * Salvation is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ, not on understanding everything. We are saved by faith, not by works or knowledge (Ephesians 2:8-9)
There are two types of Christian doctrine; revealed (explicity stated in Scripture) and inferred (deduced by the Church as led by the Holy Spirit). This is similar to the Muslim doctrine of "consensus."The test of inferred doctrine must be that it explains but never contradicts revealed doctrine.
This is not the same as the doctrine of "ongoing revelation" as practiced in the Mormon religion and in some Pentecostal groups. The revelation presented in Christ can never be added to or changed. (Galatians 1: 6-9)
..........................................................
* On the doctrine of the Trinity, my next post will be about the First Three Words of the Bible. The doctrine of the Trinity has always been there, from the Beginning.